Planet Aid Post for the Environment, for People
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Planet Aid Post For the Environment, For People Vol. 5 No. 1 Planetaid.org Global Warming’s Bitter Harvest This special Earth Day edition of the Planet Aid Post focuses on climate change and its implications for the developing world. uture generations will inherit a hotter, more meteorologically turbulent In Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, entire crops were lost Fplanet beset by intense flooding, famine, and drought. If we don’t because the rainy season abruptly halted, leaving the population with correct course soon, conditions are likely to become very bad. But recent nothing to eat. Food has become alarmingly scarce and expensive; the trends indicate that the future may have already arrived. price of white corn has risen by 150 percent from last season in South Africa alone. Countries have begun requesting immediate aid to alleviate Across the planet, the bitter harvest brought on by excessive fossil fuel widespread suffering. consumption and environmental destruction is taking its toll. An historic four- year drought has beleaguered California. Chile had its driest January in The tragedies unfolding on the world stage will spread if greenhouse five decades. China was hit with heavy flooding that impacted 75 million gas emissions are not reduced quickly. It is with this backdrop that an people. In the Pacific, a record 13 cyclones occurred in a single season. In international climate treaty was adopted in Paris in December 2015. southern Africa, damaging flooding early in the year has been followed by a severe drought that is now threatening 49 million people with hunger The so-called Paris Agreement, signed by 195 nations, went further than and starvation. That is just part of the global pattern of extreme weather. previous agreements by setting a limit on the rise of global temperatures to no more than a two degree Celsius increase above preindustrial levels. The Doomsday Scenario However, it is not at all clear how this limit will be achieved or if it is even possible. There are no mechanisms or plans within the agreement itself to In 2012, the World Bank warned of a “doomsday scenario” if the Earth’s avoid exceeding this two degree ceiling. temperature increased by a mere four degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Just one year later the Bank warned that “consequences are already Developing Countries Seek Climate Justice being felt on every continent and in every sector.... More droughts, more floods, more strong storms, and more forest fires are taxing individuals, The Paris negotiations also confronted the issue of compensating those who suffered loss or damage resulting from climate change. Poorer developing businesses, and governments.” nations, who have been bearing the brunt of climate impacts, had demanded Global temperatures are indeed rising fast, setting new records year after that rich developed nations, whose wealth had been acquired through intensive year. In 2015 temperatures shattered previous records by a wide margin fossil fuel use, compensate them for losses. However, developed countries, (overall 1.62 degrees higher than the twentieth century average). It also particularly the United States, refused to accept any legal remedy in the agreement that included compensation for losses. marked the 39th consecutive year (since 1977) that the annual temperature has been higher than the century average. In the end, the developed nations prevailed. The agreement acknowledged that loss and damage were issues, but it denied legal compensation. To help The current El Niño weather pattern is part of the problem, worsening an sway developing nations to accept the agreement anyway, the United States already bad situation. (El Niño is a normally occurring global weather offered to double the money available for sustainable development grants phenomenon that originates from warm ocean currents in the southeastern that helped reduce the risk of loss and damage. The offer was accepted by Pacific.) This El Niño is among the most severe weather cataclysms to have vulnerable nations, but there remains a dispute as to whether the additional ever occurred, creating intense droughts in some parts of the globe and funding will do enough. severe flooding in others. Southern Africa has been hit the hardest this Climate change is the most pressing challenge of our time. The question of season. At least one million children are already suffering from severe richer nations compensating developing nations will intensify and grow malnutrition due to crop losses resulting from drought. more contentious until a fair and equitable settlement is achieved.§ Planet Aid Post, page 2 Planetaid.org One World University Takes Action Against Climate Change Bringing solar power to rural villages. tudents in the Community Development Program at One World University The students sought to reduce wood S(OWU) acquire the skills needed to mobilize rural communities in rising consumption through the introduction of two from extreme poverty. The challenges they face as professionals will be technologies: firewood-saving stoves and many, not the least of which are the added obstacles of drought, flooding, solar energy panels. and other impacts imposed by climate change. The firewood-saving stoves are of a simple The people who live in the vicinity of OWU are very poor and barely scrape design, easily constructed using local clay. by to survive. When the local harvest fails for any of a number of reasons, The stoves reduce wood fuel consumption by the population resorts to cutting down trees to make and sell charcoal in limiting the amount of oxygen that flows into the capital Maputo. The hillsides surrounding the villages, formerly lush with the combustion area. This lowers the burn vegetation, have thus become increasingly bare. It is only a matter of time rate and cuts smoke emissions. The stoves before the forests are completely cut down, leaving the population with also concentrate heat on the ceramic surface nothing at all. beneath the cooking vessel, increasing the efficient utilization of each log’s In response to this situation, the OWU community development students BTU (British Thermal Units) value, while reducing heat loss. The impacts have have taken action to help the villages near their campus. Their approach included lowering wood consumption by one half to two thirds, while also has been twofold: 1) help reduce the consumption of wood and 2) replant slashing the amount of time villagers need to search for wood. trees to restore forest resources. Duarte, a community development student who worked with the village of Porto Henrique, saw an immediate change once the stoves were introduced. Reducing Wood Consumption Wood fuel meets about one tenth of the world’s energy demand, with most users located in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Mozambique. It is estimated Carolina Manhique was among the stove recipients near OWU. Here is what she that nine out of ten people use wood as an energy source in the region. said about using hers: “The stove helps a lot because I don’t need to cut trees to have a lot of wood. Planet Aid Headquarters Only three pieces of wood is enough to 6730 Santa Barbara Ct. cook the food and it’s very easy to cook Elkridge, MD 21075 in this stove. So before I had the stove, 410-796-1510 I used to take a long time looking for wood to cook with, but now there is no Planet Aid is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that recycles used need to take a long time. I can even look clothing and shoes. It is registered with the U.S. Agency for International Carolina Manhique around the house and find some pieces Development as a private voluntary organization (PVO). of wood and it’s enough.” Planet Aid Post, page 3 For the Environment, For People “There has been a drastic reduction in the search for firewood, especially in In addition, 12 members of the local community received training to the reduction of tree cutting for domestic purposes,” he said. manage and maintain the stations. Children can now do their homework The stoves introduced by the students became very popular and villagers at night (free from smoke). Each charging interval provides light for two to learned how easy it was to build them themselves. The idea caught on and three nights of use. it took only months before there were 1,000 such stoves in use near OWU. Planting Trees and Establishing Nurseries Solar Energy Stations Forests are a vital resource and provide habitat for local wildlife. They also In Mozambique, fires are lit in homes not only for cooking, but also to help to fight climate change by sequestering carbon. provide a source of light. So to further reduce wood consumption, students from OWU established six solar charging stations in local communities. The OWU both mobilized communities to plant new seedlings and established stations were utilized by 2,400 families, who each received a lantern that nurseries so that the efforts could multiply. At last count, the students and they were able to charge at the solar stations. Two stations were established community members planted more than 15,000 trees, including edible at primary schools to allow adult literacy classes to be conducted in the varieties such as moringa, papaya, mango, orange, leucanina, and evening. lychee. The students also helped establish community nurseries so that the development of seedlings would expand and grow. § ADPP Mozambique and One World University are supported with donations from Planet Aid. Now I can light the house at Lantern maintenance at the charging station. night and it’s not expensive because I use solar energy. I am very happy. — Alberto Chivambo Changalane villager A community tree nursery. Studying by solar-powered lantern light. Students from all over the country, and from neighbouring countries too, come to OWU to take part in the unique learning experience available there.